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How to pray

Bible trans­la­tion is a de­mand­ing task and needs con­stant prayer sup­port from start to fin­ish. Trans­la­tors have no­ticed, how­ever, that spe­cial dif­fi­cul­ties seem to sur­face when trans­la­tions near com­ple­tion. What fol­lows is a sam­pling of such prob­lems to help you in pray­ing for those in­volved.

The list is not hy­po­thet­i­cal. Every item men­tioned has oc­curred to de­lay com­ple­tion of some translation.

  • Pray for the stamina and health of translators, their families and their children.
  • Pray that scheduling of furloughs, administrative duties and other urgent tasks will not interfere with progress.
  • Pray that responsibilities concerning aging parents, education of children and family duties will not be neglected.
  • Pray for peace and guidance for translators having to leave the work due to health or family issues, and for local co-workers having to return to work or school.
  • Pray for translations being done in secret. Pray for God to protect the lives of those involved and their families.
  • Pray for readers to be available to give community checks on acceptability of the translation.
  • Pray for the funding needed to support the translators, pay the expenses, and publish the materials.
  • Pray for authorizations and approvals by church authorities and governments where required.
  • Pray that local churches will be fully involved and reach consensus on wording, writing and printing.
  • Pray that final decisions on use of key biblical terms will be acceptable to all concerned.
  • Pray for reconciliation of alphabets and alternate wordings, due to dialect differences.
  • Pray for availability of trained consultants so that translation checking and final approvals will not be delayed.
  • Pray for literacy workers to promote literacy and so relieve translators to finish the translation. Pray for local enthusiasm for the completion and publication that will urge the translators on.
  • Pray against technical failures of computers, storage disks, copiers, printers and service items.
  • Pray concerning extreme weather conditions, like hurricanes and earthquakes, and the safety of manuscripts.
  • Pray against wars and insurrections that render it impossible to continue the work.
  • Pray for accuracy on the part of typesetters, who are often working with a language they do not understand.
  • Pray for proofreaders, that they may catch and correct errors that would mar the translation.
  • Pray for the mailing and shipping process, that damage or loss in transit, or delays in customs, will not occur.

Here are some more ressources to help you pray.